Pride and Joy
by Cartoon Dragon
Summary: A series of one shots that takes place in my Rememberance story.  These are all about their sparklings.
1. Chapter 1

**Pride and Joy  
>Chapter 1: Sparkling Sitting<strong>

Bulkhead smiled to himself as he came to check on little Starcomet. She was in deep recharge. And if Starscream was right, she wouldn't wake up until he, Optimus, Prowl, and Bumblebee returned home.

Ratchet had gone off to Cybertron to get more medical supplies. Starscream and Optimus were out for "them" time. The same could be said for Prowl and Bumblebee. So Bulkhead had agreed to sparkling sit.

Both Starscream and Bumblebee were hesitant about leaving their little ones, especially since they hadn't left them since the day they were born. Which had been four stellar-cycles ago.

But Bulkhead managed to help Optimus and Prowl convince their mates to go out and enjoy themselves. Now Bulkhead was alone at the base with the little ones. He had already checked on Draco and Butterfly. They, like Starcomet, were in peaceful recharge.

He shut the door to the seekerling's room as quietly as he could then took gentle steps toward the living room, trying to make as little noise as possible.

The sparklings were already accustomed to his loud, thunderous ped-steps. But he still didn't want to risk disturbing them. Especially this late in the night.

When he made it to the living room, he sat down and picked up the remote to the T.V. "Let's see what's on," he mumbled to himself as he pressed the "on" button. He realized two nano-klicks too late that Bumblebee had left the T.V. on a music station and the volume was at its loudest setting.

The speakers blared as a guitar solo sounded and nearly shorted out Bulkhead's audios. He quickly turned it off. But despite the ringing in his audios, he could still make out three sparklings crying their vents out.

He got up and ran to Starcomet's room first, since it was right next to the living room. He opened the door and turned on the light. Starcomet still had her optics off-lined, but she was awake and wailing. Silver tears streamed down the sides of her face and in her hair. She was reaching up in the air and had her back arched as if she was trying to grab something.

Bulkhead went to her crib and, as carefully as he could, picked her up. Starcomet screamed louder when he accidently brushed her sensitive wings a little too roughly.

"Shh-shh! I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I didn't mean that. Shush. It's okay." He repeated this to her as he held her in the crook of his arm and rocked her back and forth easily.

The steady and calming pulses of his spark and his caring words helped to soothe her. But the other crying sparklings kept her from completely settling down. Still holding her in the crook of his arm, Bulkhead went to the twins' room and picked them up from their cribs as well.

He continued to hold and rock them in his massive arms. He hummed a little tune until their cries turned into tiny whimpers.

The large mech looked around, remembering what Starscream had told him before leaving. "If they wake up, Bumblebee and I have already prepared their bottles. They should be on their dressers."

Bulkhead spotted the two bottles for the twins. After setting Butterfly and Starcomet down in a crib, he grabbed one and began feeding the mechling. Draco would occasionally stop drinking the sparkling formula to sniffle and wipe his optics calmly, then would continue refueling. In a matter of klicks, the bottle was empty. He hiccupped once then continued sniffling.

Bulkhead put Draco over his shoulder and gently and carefully massaged his back until the excess air was out of his tanks. Bulkhead then placed the sparkling in his crib and picked up his sister and fed her. Butterfly finished drinking her formula sooner than her brother and as soon as the air was expelled from her tanks, Bulkhead put her back in her crib and picked up Starcomet.

He tucked the twins in before turning out the light and leaving. They were in recharge again before the door closed.

Bulkhead went back to Starcomet's room and looked for her bottle. He found it easily. Before he gave it to her, he heard her tanks growl loudly. This in turn caused her to screech unhappily.

"Okay, okay. Here's your ba-ba," Bulkhead said cutely to the seekerling. Starcomet giggled at his sparkling voice and happily and hungrily drank her formula.

Her tiny clawed hands grabbed onto the bottle and Bulkhead couldn't help the laugh that escaped his vocalizer as she began clawing at it. Almost like a cat at a scratching post.

When she finished, she yawned tiredly and off-lined her optics. She was ready to go back into recharge.

Bulkhead smiled at the seekerling. Then put her over his shoulder and carefully massaged her back. After a few nano-klicks, the excess air was gone. Bulkhead laid her back into her crib delicately and put her blanket over her.

Starcomet cooed happily and tiredly as she fell back into recharge. Bulkhead turned off the light, then quietly left.

Deciding not to turn on the T.V. again, he went to work on one of his art projects instead. As he began his work, he could only think of one thing.

He loved sparkling sitting.

**END**


	2. Chapter 2

**Pride and Joy  
>Chapter 2: Slipstream and Starcomet<strong>

Slipstream groaned as the infant Seeker she now held continued to wail and screech. She glared down at the tiny being and shouted, "Will you shut up?" But this only made the seekerling cry more and flail as the femme continued to fly.

Slipstream stopped and hovered.

She held the seekerling at arm's length and glared at her. "Why did I save you? And what's keeping me from dropping you right now?"

She knew the answer to one of her questions. She knew if she dropped the sparkling to her death, her carrier and Slipstream's creator would stop at nothing to find out who killed his sparkling and destroy them. She knew, as well as any Cybertronian, that a fragged-off carrier was not someone to take lightly.

But she didn't understand why she saved the seekerling.

A Decepticon had kidnapped the Prime's and his mate's sparkling in hopes of using her as a bargaining chip to release Megatron. Slipstream had just stumbled upon him when she heard the seekerling crying. The next thing she knew, she had beaten the Decepticon to slag and took the infant.

She knew she was Starscream's daughter, just like the Decepticon. Which only made her continue to wonder why she had saved her.

She had just felt this overpowering instinct take over her. And it was that same instinct that screamed at her to comfort the sparkling and figure out what was wrong.

Because it was her instincts that kept her and Starscream's other clones alive this long, she chose to listen.

She brought the seekerling closer to her form and tried to figure out how to hold her properly. The seekerling's cries slowly died down as Slipstream held her in the crook of her arm close to her chest.

The pulses of her spark calmed the little one down. Now she was only sniffling and whimpering sadly. Slipstream extended a clawed digit and carefully wiped away the tears and strands of silver that still clung to her tear stained face. She caressed her cheek and remembered something she had heard about seekerlings.

"All sparklings can pick up on emotions. But for seekerlings, this fact is especially true. So, to calm a seekerling, you yourself must be calm. Gently stroke their wings. This gesture shows them that they are safe and are not in any kind of danger. Then gently rock them and hold them close to your spark chamber. If they can hear you spark, it calms them further."

Slipstream caressed the seekerling's wings and rocked her carefully. She felt relief when the little one fell completely silent. Slipstream looked into her silver optics and complemented, "Good girl."

A moment later, the seekerling off-lined her optics and drifted off into recharge.

Slipstream sighed, then continued flying to her hideout.

The femme Seeker now lived in the cave Megatron and his Decepticons used to stay in before the Autobots destroyed their space bridge. Now it was her home.

In their haste to leave, the Decepticons had left many things behind. Such as old computers and communication devices, which she used to call the other clones when she needed something from them. A few weapons were left behind as well. They still had a little power, but Slipstream hardly touched them though. Unless she wanted to raise her energy levels a bit. And the Decepticons had also left several cases of energon.

Slipstream had been surprised when she realized she and the other clones were changing. They were all developing their own personalities and leaving Decepticon Starscream's traits behind.

Aft-kisser Sunstorm, as they called him, no longer stopped to compliment any and everything that crossed him. His personality was happy and he always looked on the bright side of things. He had also become interested in becoming a medic. He read every data-pad that came into his position on the subject and proved to be very good at the trade.

Liar Ramjet now told no untruths, aside from a little fib every now and then. He had developed a since of humor and seemed to be trying to impress Slipstream for some reason. He and Sunstorm lived with Dirage on one of Earth's neighboring planets. Saturn, the femme believed.

Greedy Dirage was now more willing to share his belongings and his home with the other clones. He had somehow managed to get his claws on a few Cybertronian supplies. How, Slipstream didn't know, but the fact that what he got kept them all functioning made her now really care.

Egomaniac Thundercracker was the first out of all of them to truly change. He surprised everyone when he complemented Skywarp on an achievement he made. Now the blue Seeker had a very protective personality. Especially towards Skywarp. This made since to Slipstream, because Thundercracker was created first and thus, made him the "big brother" of the group. And Skywarp was created last, making him the "little brother".

Cowardly Skywarp now lived with Thundercracker in the remains of the Nemesis on Earth's moon. The purple clone's transformation into his own personality was proving to be the second longest. He was still a bit easy to scare. But he wasn't afraid of everything around him.

Slipstream, however, wasn't sure if she was changing or not.

Her male counterparts and Decepticon Starscream even, didn't know she was his common sense and self preservation. And she was still the same. She kept a low profile, took what she needed, and watched out for herself.

That was until a few mega-cycles ago. She had just seen a Decepticon rough handling a poor scared seekerling. Then she heard his plan to use her as a bargaining chip. That had tugged at her wires for some reason. But when she saw him _slap_ the seekerling on the wing because she wouldn't stop crying, Slipstream had snapped.

She didn't even know why she cared so much for this infant. She didn't even know the seekerling's name. All she knew was she was Starscream's and Optimus' daughter.

She sighed. Until she found a way to safely return her, it appeared she was stuck with the infant.

She went down a corridor that led to the abandoned berth quarters. Megatron's quarters now belonged to Slipstream. She gently laid the seekerling on the spacious berth and covered her up. Then she left the room.

Slipstream decided that she needed to talk to the others about her situation. After a few adjustments to the communication computer, she sent out a two way call.

She only had to wait a few nano-klicks before she got an answer on one end. Dirage appeared on one screen. "Slipstream? What do ya need?"

The green clone sounded out of breath and was missing several pieces of armor. Slipstream also saw claw marks and yellow pain smudges. A moment later, Sunstorm came on, in the same condition as his green counterpart, only with green paint smudges. "Oh please tell me two haven't," she began pleadingly.

Ramjet walked into view and answered, "Unfortunately they have. How've ya been 'Stream?"

The Seekeress shrugged. "I've been better Ram."

A nano-klick later, Thundercracker finally answered the call on the Nemesis…With Skywarp sitting in his lap and his arms wrapped around the older clone's neck. Both grinning contentedly.

Slipstream groaned. What was it about Seekers that made them want to interface constantly? She didn't have that problem…as long as she didn't look Ramjet in the optics anyway.

That was another thing that had changed about them, their optic color. Thundercracker's were now sapphire blue, Skywarp's wine purple, Sunstorm's were orange, Dirage's were jade green, and Ramjet's were light brown. Slipstream's were still ruby red.

"So, why'd you call 'Stream?" Sunstorm asked as he attempted to get some of the pain smudges off his person.

Slipstream opened her mouth to answer, when a loud wail sounded from down the corridor. The Seeker clones looked at her, surprised by what they heard. The crying and wailing continued.

She held up a clawed digit and stated, "One klick."

She ran down the corridor to her berthroom and saw the seekerling. She was sitting up, crying with her clawed hands rubbing her optics. Slipstream picked her up and rocked her as she walked back to the communication monitor.

The other five Seekers stared at her and the infant Seeker with shock.

"Stream," Ramjet began bemusedly, "Where'd ya get the kid?"

"I saved her from a Decepticon."

"She's not yours?" Skywarp asked, his optics locked on the seekerling. "No, she's Starscream's."

Their optics grew impossibly wider. Even _they_ knew if Starscream found Slipstream with _his_ sparkling, he would slag her first and ask questions later.

"Don't look at me like that!" She snapped, "I know what I'm doing!"

The seekerling's cries grew louder. Slipstream grimaced. "Shh-shh. I'm sorry, I'm sorry. It's okay, it's okay."

Sunstorm watched the infant as she continued to wail. "Please be quiet," Slipstream practically begged.

"Stream," Sunstorm said, getting the femme's attention. "I think she's hungry."

Slipstream raised an optic ridge. "Is that all? I've got plenty of energon she can refuel on."

"Stream, you can't feed a sparkling energon. Her tanks can't process it yet. You need sparkling formula."

"Well, unless a Decepticon was hiding something big from Megatron, I don't have any."

"No problem. I know how to make some."

Several klicks later…  
>Slipstream was overjoyed that Sunstorm knew how to make sparkling formula. It was fairly easy with him talking her through it. "Okay Stream, just keep stirring until it turns blue."<p>

Slipstream continued stirring several ingredients into a small cube of low grade. A klick later, the purplish-pink liquid turned whitish-blue. "Okay, now what?" she asked.

Sunstorm shrugged. "Feed her. But only about half the cube."

A loud screech from the sparkling caused the Seekers to flinch and wince. "And do it quickly."

Slipstream took something that resembled a small spoon and filled it with the formula. She picked the seekerling up and cradled her, then fed her the small spoonful of liquid. The infant gladly drank it until the cube was half empty.

By then, she was content and stopped wailing. She looked up at Slipstream and cooed and chirped happily. Then she snuggled into her cockpit.

"Aww, Stream," Skywarp began, "She likes you."

Slipstream smiled a little at the infant. "…She is kinda cute."

Ramjet chuckled. "Yeah. Who woulda thought Starscream would make such an adorable kid?"

Slipstream giggled. "I think I'll give her back tonight. All the Autobots will most likely be out looking for her. I can sneak her in their base before they know I was there."

Thundercracker cocked an optic ridge, "And if you're caught?"

"I'll still giver her back. Then I run before they do anything."

"Good luck," Dirage stated, "You're gonna need it."

Then both transmissions were dropped.

Slipstream kept a close optic on the sparkling as she worked around the base. She explored more of the tunnels the Decepticons made, dug through some of the things they left behind, and attempted to make some of the broken devices work again.

Slipstream had a knack for fixing things. She didn't know why, since she was mainly created to destroy. But she enjoyed it and it kept her hands busy.

She was working on an old blaster while she watched the seekerling play with a piece of scrap metal. She dug her miniscule claws into it, leaving tiny scratches.

Slipstream smiled a little. The seekerling was so adorable and sweet. And so well behaved. The older Seekeress managed to get the younger's hair into a pony tail when it kept getting in her way while she clawed at the metal.

The seekerling, after a few mega-cycles of clawing, picked up the metal and crawled to Slipstream. She cooed up happily at the femme and presented her with her work.

"…You made this for me?" she asked as she kneeled down and accepted the offering.

The seekerling chirped. Slipstream looked at the metal and was surprised by what she saw. It was a drawing…of her…

The infant made this for her?

Why?

The sparkling reached up and chirped and clicked multiple times, indicating that she wanted to be picked up. Slipstream reached down and scooped the sparkling into her arms. She held on to the older Seekeress' neck and snuggled into her before yawning.

Slipstream looked up. She was working outside where the space bridge used to be. The sun was setting and a few stars were already peaking out for the night.

Slipstream felt her spark sink a little realizing that she had to take the seekerling home. She knew where the Autobot base was by now and knew how to get in and out.

She held the seekerling close then took off into the night. As she flew, the seekerling gradually fell into recharge.

Slipstream had been right, Starscream and the other Autobots were out looking for the lost seekerling. The only one there to watch the base and the other two sparklings was a mech she knew as Blitzwing and he was in deep recharge on the couch.

As quietly as she could managed, Slipstream snuck into the base. She tip-toed to the mech and gingerly laid the seekerling on his abdomen.

"Good-bye little one," she whispered, stroking her hair one last time before leaving.

Hidden in a dark corner, she watched from outside a window. When Blitzwing woke up and saw the seekerling recharging on him, he called the Autobots explaining that she was there.

Slipstream smiled when she finally learned the seekerling's name.

Starcomet.

In less than a few klicks after Blitzwing contacted them, Optimus and Starscream arrived. The Seeker scooped his sparkling from Blitzwing and hugged her close to his spark as he cried tears of joy. Starcomet cooed up at her carrier curiously and nuzzled his cockpit. Optimus hugged his mate and caressed his daughter's hair.

Slipstream had tears of her own sliding down her face. She had brought a family back together. And she didn't know it, but as the tears in her optics continued to flow, the ruby red color dimmed. It was soon replaced with cloud white. And at that moment, she knew why she had saved Starcomet.

Slipstream was Starscream's clone, which meant she and the sparkling had the same blood. In a way, Slipstream was Starcomet's mom. It was that parenting instinct that had made her save the seekerling.

With that thought in mind, she flew away.

Starscream gently lowered his sparkling into her crib.

He couldn't describe the fear he had felt when she had been taken, nor could he the relief when Blitzwing called.

He caressed her hair before kissing her forehead. He turned out the lights and closed the door, then went to his room. Optimus was already in recharge, which gave the Seeker time to check on something.

He looked under the berth and pulled out a device then sat down, his back facing Optimus. He fiddled with his contraption for a few klicks before he heard his mate's voice say, "I've been meaning to ask you about that for a while now."

"…When did you find it?"

"About a week ago. I found it while I was looking for Starcomet's stuffed turbo-fox."

Starscream didn't replay. He felt the berth shift as Optimus sat up and rested his chin on his shoulder.

"So, what is it?" the mech asked tiredly, rubbing the under-edge of Starscream's wings.

The Seeker's optics dimmed as his mate continued to relax him. "I made it…to delete the Decepticon programming from my clones."

"Not that I'm not greatful, but why?"

"…They're my children in a certain sense, Optimus. I want them to come here…So that I can apologize for what I did to them…And offer them a home with us."

"How do you know it's working?"

"…I don't."

"Well, if it does work, and your clones do come here, I will gladly offer them a place here."

Starscream smiled before turning his head slightly and nuzzling Optimus' cheek. "You're too good for me."

Optimus chuckled. "I thought the same about you."

**END**

* * *

><p><strong>Sorry with how long this one took. Hopefully I'll be quiker with the updates. Oh, and just in case I didn't mention this in the first chapter, you guys are free to send in requests for what you want me to do with the sparklings and thier parents. I'll get to them as soon as can. Hope you guys enjoy this chapter and I'll hopefully be updating soon.<strong>


End file.
